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PENTECOST IS NOT FULFILLED!

Acts 2:1 "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."

There is no doubt that this was the most amazing Day of Pentecost up until that time, but it is not the Day that Peter thought it was going to be! This is what happened on Pentecost of 31A.D.

Acts 2:2-12 “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because EVERYONE HEARD THEM SPEAK IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs - we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’ 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?’ 13 Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine’….”

In the Zephaniah 3 account, language, or speech, of the entire earth will be pure. Perhaps there will only be one language. (v.9) Peter knew that God will purge out the wicked and leave a humble people (vs.11-12) It would be logical for a person who believed that the Kingdom of God was about to be set up, to be expecting Zephaniah 3 to be fulfilled first. Great intervention in the languages of mankind would require the intervention of God. Knowing that the Holy Days commemorate momentous events both past and future, Peter thought that the Kingdom of God was being initiated on this very day! Based on his already existing assumption, that the end was near - that would have been ‘logical’. After Peter’s death, however, John revealed that at the conclusion of the Final Tribulation, the two witnesses will be killed, and "peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations" would view their bodies. (Revelation 11:9) Then during the Day of the Lord:

Revelation 14:6 There will be an "angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue and people…"

Acts 2 continued: "14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But THIS is what was spoken by the prophet Joel 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR MY SPIRIT in those days; and they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the coming of the great and awesome DAY OF THE LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Was this a partial fulfillment of Joel 2? Was the Day of the Lord also being ‘partially’ fulfilled? Were those days ‘partially’ the last days? No! The rest of the day did not live up to Peter’s expectations! Not only will "all flesh", in this instance - everyone alive, have God’s spirit poured out on them so that they may repent, but the saints of God will have even more of His Spirit poured out on them!

Here is the rest of the text of Acts 2. Not a single jot or tittle from Peter’s discourse should be omitted, it’s the only significant discourse on the meaning of Pentecost that we have!

Acts 2:22-47 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know - 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ 29 ‘Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He POURED OUT this which you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, 35 till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ 36 ‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Peter assumed that the whole house of Israel would soon be saved and that it was time for Christ to occupy the throne of King David! He also assumed that the pouring out, spoken of be Joel, was occurring at that very moment!) 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ 38 Then Peter said to them: Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (This receiving of the Holy Spirit does foreshadow the day when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. The Holy Days really do depict things to come!) 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying: Be saved from this perverse generation. 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. (The institution of the church, in reality, is the ‘firstfruits’ of Israel. When the above described day actually occurs, then all of Israel will have Holy Spirit miraculously poured out on them. Peter thought that he was witnessing the beginning of that outpouring!) 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

Why do you suppose that scripture preserved this erroneous assumption about Pentecost? THIS was NOT, as it turned out, the fulfillment of Joel’s prophesy concerning the Day of the Lord! God allowed Peter’s assumption to be preserved, as delivered, to show us that even inspired Apostles can misunderstand God’s timing! It is readily understood that the Apostles all assumed that the Kingdom of God was very soon to be set up. God did nothing to alter that assumption. Assumptions are a necessary part of life. We often have to use them until we have more complete knowledge. The problem comes when we accept our assumptions as being fact.

God expects all of mankind to assume that He, the Creator God, exists because there is a fantastic creation right in front of us! They are without excuse (Romans 1:20) who do not assume this to be true, even tho they might certainly wonder why they have no contact with Him. Mankind should also logically assume, that the creator had some great reason for creating the universe. Furthermore all of us should rightfully assume that humanity is the pinnacle of the Creator’s workmanship because of our unique minds. We are obviously not like the animals!

Just as it is the job of every scientist to prove his assumptions, we should try to prove ours. A scientist calls his assumptions hypotheses but despite the silly word, it is still his job to do everything he can, to systematically determine the truth. We are to be like that. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Never fail to believe, acknowledge and act upon everything that you are sure of. Even if you are later proven wrong, God is far more concerned with your lack of cowardice than your perfect knowledge. God will judge you on your works! God wants for us to run the race, not waiting for others to catch up!

When an emergency occurs, such as being lost at sea, assumptions are a necessary survival skill. An assumption often decides whether you live or die. You have to learn to act in a world without perfect knowledge. God deliberately adds knowledge, a little at a time, to see if we will continue to respond to Him.

Joel described the time when the rest of Israel will also receive the Spirit of God! Notice that this prophecy is for Israel BEFORE the Day of the Lord. God will deal with the rest of the world DURING and AFTER that day. The chapter break disrupts the uninterrupted discernment intended.

Israel First

Joel 2:28-3:2 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. 3:1 For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations…”

Notice that the “all flesh” and the “whoever” is still in reference to the just liberated captives and that God is about to gather “all (the other) nations” for “judgment”!

Returning to Acts 2, we see that God inspired this chapter to be retained as scripture for far more than to simply demonstrate that an Apostle could be mistaken. Peter quoted a good bit of scripture from memory, which demonstrates that he really had thought a lot about those words prior to that day. Surely he would have asked for Christ’s thoughts on that prophecy while he had the opportunity. It’s doubtful that there is much that they were not told except for when the prophecies would unfold. Just as when Daniel asked:

Daniel 12:6 "How long will it be to the end of these wonders?" And:

Daniel 12:8 "what will be the end of these things?"

Many times though, assumptions are made because we simply don’t think to ask the right questions! We learn best by asking the right questions!

Peter knew that a day was coming when God would pour out his spirit on "all flesh". Peter knew that Israel’s young people would see visions and prophecy. Peter also knew that:

Acts 2:20 "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord."

There really is coming a Day of Pentecost when God will pour out His Spirit on "all flesh", this day can only happen once. This amazing prophecy, that Peter believed was for his time, will be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost just prior to The Day of the Lord! Perhaps a literal new language will be downloaded into humanity’s minds as a sign, at that very time.

The Marriage Supper

Take a look at a bit more of the prophecy that Peter was quoting from.

Joel 2:15-17 "Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; 16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’"

I believe that this allusion to a marriage is in reference to the many other scriptures that describe the marriage of God to Israel at the time of this dramatic time of transition from slavery to redemption.

Hosea 2:13-20 “I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot, says the LORD. 14  Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. 15 I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be, in that day, says the LORD, That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ …19 I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD.

What spiritual inferences can be gathered from this original Pentecost instruction? The meaning of this Day is inseparable from the HARVEST. Why two loaves? Although the rituals are suspended today, the symbolism is still quite relevant.

Leviticus 23:15-22 "And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings TWO WAVE LOAVES of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’"

What is a Firstfruit?

Both Christ and his church are firstfruits! A firstfruit is essentially the same as a firstborn. Firstfruit on an actual tree are the first to ripen, better shaped, and more flavorful. The emphasis is on being called first, maturing first! Firstfruit can mean an actual fruit but it also refers to anything "first in place, time, order or rank" - Strong’s <7225>. However, this particular firstfruit is specifically in reference to the harvest of wheat.

Exodus 34:22 "And you shall observe the ‘Feast of Weeks’ (Pentecost in the Greek Scriptures), of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of ‘Ingathering’ (Tabernacles) at the year’s end.

The figurative reference to the wheat harvest was not lost on Christ. In fact He used the metaphor three times, each time referring to the harvest of human firstfruits into the Kingdom of God, as well as the associated Judgment Day! For those who have eyes to see - this is a terrific reason to celebrate Pentecost - to celebrate the day we, hopefully among the firstfruit, enter the Kingdom of God!

Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His WHEAT into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Matthew 13:24 “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? 28 He said to them: An enemy has done this. The servants said to him: Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said: No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them: 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I (Jesus) will say to the reapers: First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the WHEAT into my barn.”

John 12:23 “But Jesus answered them, saying: The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of WHEAT falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. …31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”

There is coming a time when the voice of an angel will be heard and understood by every person of every language. You guessed it; this happens during the Day of the Lord, or "the hour of His judgment". Another way to nail down the timing is that: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen". Once Satan’s government is shattered - then God will initiate "His judgment". The timing is precise; "the everlasting gospel" is the sure message. The language phenomenon at that time may be the same as that of the historic Pentecost of 31 A.D.

Revelation 14:6-8 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - 7 saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’ 8 And another angel followed, saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Prepare for the miracles of Pentecost! Next time everyone will undoubtedly be stone sober!

Lon Martin
Written 10/26/00

Revised 12/13/02